The Inside Story on Outhouses

Posted by mjsal34, Community Contributor

An old East Windsor outhouse.

An old East Windsor outhouse. (Posted by mjsal34, Community Contributor)

Community Contributor mjsal34

Leslie and Richard Strauss, authors of "Outhouses of Connecticut," will be guest speakers at the May 28 meeting of the East Windsor Historical Society at the Scantic Academy Museum, 115 Scantic Rd., at 7 p.m. They will present highlights from their self-published book, which asserts: "These little buildings conjure up memories and inspire tall tales. The photographs, recollections, poems and stories shared by Nutmeggers across the state clearly express why outhouses hold such a special place in our history and hearts." Their daughter, Jessica Strauss Hunt, took the photographs. Their interest in outhouses developed a few years ago after they passed an outhouse on a walk. Inspired by their daughter, they created a photo journal about outhouses in Chester. This initiated a quest to discover why people still have outhouses, and to collect stories about them and their contemporary usage. The interest took on a life of its own as calls and emails from equally fascinated Nutmeggers resulted in the collection of stories, reflections, poems, memoirs and photos. The Strausses have also established the Come Rescue A Privy network to save endangered outhouses and a web site www.outhousesofconnecticut.com. The program will also include a question-answer period and an opportunity to purchase signed copies of their book. For more information about the Society and its programs, visit its Facebook site or eastwindsorhistory.wordpress.com.

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